Editorial: Immigration reform marches toward law

The national movement toward sweeping immigration reform was evident in three ways Wednesday, all hinting that the question is no longer if laws will change but when.

The national movement toward sweeping immigration reform was evident in three ways Wednesday, all hinting that the question is no longer if laws will change but when.

In Newburgh, Kingston and dozens of other communities, thousands marched and signs of official backing were everywhere, from praise by Newburgh Mayor Judy Kennedy and State Assemblyman Frank Skartados to the greeting from Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, relayed from Washington.

"I am hopeful that Congress will work together to tackle this key issue that impacts thousands of families in the Hudson Valley," Maloney said.

That meant a lot to several in the crowd, none more so than a 23-year-old from Newburgh who came to this country as a child, went through high school and college yet always worried that she could not have the future that she and her parents envisioned. Providing a chance to obtain legal status will change the lives of thousands now condemned to live and work in the shadows of the underground economy, vulnerable to exploitation. They'll be able to get jobs, obtain drivers licenses and pay taxes. That will be good for Newburgh.

In Washington, members of Congress continued negotiations yet in the third location, along the border with Mexico, no one knows exactly what went on Wednesday. And that will continue to be the problem, the obstacle that must be removed before immigration reform finally commands the support of a majority in Congress.

Those who have long bristled at the idea of offering legal recognition to people who entered the country illegally and providing them with a path to citizenship are insisting that nothing can happen until the borders are secure. Those who have long championed the rights of these immigrants have been eager to agree with the call for border security.

As with all things political, this will come down to politics no matter how nonpolitical the discussion may seem.

John McCain — who once was in favor of immigration reform before he was against it and then changed again to be for it — is calling for assurances that the border is 90 percent secure. He says it is no longer enough to know how many were caught going over the walls. We need to know how many were not caught so we can make sure that the percentage matches the target figure.

Good luck with that. As any law enforcement officer would be happy to tell the senator, nobody ever really knows how many people were not caught committing a particular crime.

By imposing a standard that might never be met, McCain could stop progress on this issue forever. But he and other Republicans got into this latest round of negotiations not because of a change in philosophy but because they saw what happens when the votes of the fastest-growing minority group in the country sway elections.

Some day soon, they will declare that the borders are secure enough and the path to citizenship can be opened. And that will be good news for one 23-year-old in Newburgh, for her family, for the rest of the Hudson Valley and the nation.